If you spotted a snake in your garden this season and reached for a shovel or a bottle of repellent, you just fired your best employee. Every gardener who has spent years chasing snakes off their property has unknowingly been doing the same thing: evicting the one creature that controls slugs, mice, voles, and rats…
A giant water lily growing in Florida recently held 285 pounds without immediately sinking beneath the surface. Rather than remaining an isolated horticultural experiment, this feat made Bok Tower Gardens the champion of a surprisingly competitive international contest. People reported on Sept. 1 that the Waterlily Weigh-Off currently includes over 70 gardens, zoos, parks and…
The most expensive mistake you can make with new perennials isn’t neglect. It’s the wrong kind of attention. Gardeners who water daily, fertilize faithfully, and watch obsessively over their new plants are often the same gardeners whose perennials don’t survive year 1, and they never understand why. The problem isn’t effort; it’s effort applied in…
The more money you pour into smart garden technology, the more likely it is that your garden is actually getting worse. That sounds backwards, but it is the pattern showing up across gardening communities, expert recommendations, and product reviews in 2026. Gardeners are spending $200 – $500 on app-connected sensors, automated garden kits, and subscription-based…
The corn earworm and the tomato fruitworm are the same insect, just feeding on two different crops. If you plant tomatoes next to corn, you’ve essentially built a buffet table for one of the most destructive garden pests in North America. That single mistake can collapse both harvests at once, and most home gardeners have…
The first drops of rain can send people dashing for the nearest cover. In contrast, one good rainstorm can make it seem as though a whole population of frogs moved into your yard overnight. Suddenly, there they are, hopping through the grass, sitting near puddles and singing their froggy hearts out when the sun goes…
Big, overflowing hydrangeas can look effortless once they are in bloom. Getting them to come back that way year after year takes a little more planning. And some of the work that affects next summer’s flowers actually happens before this growing season is over. On Sept. 2, The Spruce wrote about Nicole Michalpoulos, owner of…
Mums have practically become a staple of fall right up there with pumpkins and ruby-colored leaves, blossoming beside jack-o’-lanterns on porches and patios as soon as summer starts winding down. Some gardeners, however, are reaching for marigolds instead. The familiar yellow, orange, and red flowers can deliver many of the same autumn colors while asking…
Every spring, gardeners across the country load their carts with bags of compost at the garden center, spending $15-$30 or more per raised bed without a second thought. It feels like the responsible thing to do. What most of those gardeners don’t realize is that several of the most effective soil amendments available are already…